If for some reason, you can’t issue an unqualified report when you complete your audit, you still need to create a report. Three reporting options are available to auditors: the qualified report, the disclaimer[more…]

Part of an auditor’s job for a client can include verifying company documents. Attestation is a subset of assurance services that focuses on whether your engagement’s subject matter complies with the applicable[more…]

The purpose of compliance audits is to see how well a company is following applicable rules, policies, and regulations. For example, as an internal auditor your job may be to see how well various departments[more…]

At every step of an audit, you have to consider risks of misstatement and their associated controls. When you are auditing assets, be sure to focus is on identifying risks in the fixed-asset management[more…]

When auditing a company’s assets, don’t forget to take a look at asset control risk features the company has in place. During your audit you can perform tests of internal controls to limit the number of[more…]

During your audit, you need to test management financial statement assertions for fixed and intangible asset transactions. The six assertions that you must attend to when auditing — occurrence, ownership[more…]

Most people don’t realize the importance of the accounting department in keeping a business operating without hitches and delays. That’s probably because accountants oversee many of the back-office functions[more…]

Careers in accounting are diverse and can be lucrative. In our highly developed economy, many people work in accounting-related fields. In fact, nearly 2 million people make their living as bookkeepers[more…]

Bookkeeping, when done properly, gives you an excellent gauge of how well your business is doing. Bookkeeping also provides financial information throughout the year so you can test the success of your[more…]

Get a firm understanding of key bookkeeping and accounting terms and phrases before you begin work as a bookkeeper. Bookkeepers use specific terms and phrases everyday as they track and record financial[more…]

Staying organized is critical to efficient and accurate bookkeeping. Organize your bookkeeping records by deciding what to keep, and how to find information quickly when you need it. Everything you do[more…]

After you set up your business’s books and put in place your internal controls, you’re ready to use the bookkeeping systems you established to manage the day-to-day operations of your business. You’ll[more…]

Different businesses make different accounting decisions. Some businesses choose conservative accounting methods while others choose liberal accounting methods. Accounting is more than just reading the[more…]

All businesses, whether they use the cash-basis accounting method or the accrual accounting method, use double-entry bookkeeping to keep their books. A practice that helps minimize errors and increase[more…]

A bookkeeper tracks all the financial transactions of a business and is responsible for identifying the account in which each transaction should be recorded. Accounting provides the structure you must[more…]

The Chart of Accounts is the roadmap that a business creates to organize its financial transactions. Essentially, this chart lists all the accounts a business has, organized in a specific order; each account[more…]

The Chart of Accounts for a business includes balance sheet accounts that track liabilities and owners’ equity. Liabilities include what your business owes to others, such as vendors and financial institutions[more…]

The income statement portion of a Chart of Accounts includes revenue and expense accounts. The income statement shows how much money a business generated from sales and how much money it spent to generate[more…]

After recording purchase transactions for a business, the bookkeeper takes primary responsibility for making sure that the bills are paid for both the inventory and the supplies purchased. Usually, you'll[more…]